Newspaper Days

When veteran southwest Missouri newspaper editor Randy Turner wrote those words he never dreamed he was opening the door to a $1.5 billion libel suit and the end of a storied newspaper career that saw him earn more than 100 awards, including 30 for investigative reporting.

In "Newspaper Days," Turner's follow-up to the highly successful The Turner Report, he relives his 22 years as a reporter and editor, including how:

-He encountered a gang of armed drug dealers after his editorial resulted in a police crackdown

-His failure to deal with the murder of a close friend haunted him after his first newspaper job

-One publisher fired him twice by mail, and another told him he would never work in newspapers again.

-He ran afoul of a 400-pound city marshal, and a gun-toting father during his time with the Newton County News

-His coverage of corruption in a small town police department, the Nancy Cruzan right-to-die case, and a governor's race between three Missouri legends- Mel Carnahan, Roy Blunt, and Bill Webster, catapulted him to a front-tier status among Missouri journalists.

. "Newspaper Days" is entertaining, funny, fast-moving, and a must-read for those who remember a time when a newspaper was the heart and soul of a community.